The Sweet Taste Of Venom
by Thorned Rose
Summary: Taking the scenic route to the next championship proves an irreversible error, provoking a huge rift between Jessie and James and expanding to alter Ash & co's lives forever and not in a pleasant way. Contains some dark, potentially disturbing scenes.
1. The Walk To Trigger The Evil

                                                                      The sweet taste of **VENOM**

      And on it grew unnoticed…

                                                                                                                               ******

      It was another disastrous day for all involved. Ash, Brock and Misty were walking along the arduous path to the peak of Mount Jhuriah, as the cap-bedecked youth felt the thin air would help him train for the forthcoming league in which he was due to partake. Misty shivered as the harshly cold climate bit heartily into her exposed flesh, hoping she didn't drop her egg-type pokémon from the violent vibration she caused. Togepi was unperturbed all the same; it trilled merrily and waved its stubby arms around as if it was an easy game without any risk involved. Brock grimaced against the wintry wind, feeling it every bit as much through his sleeveless jacket as Misty did, yet Ash failed to make many complaints at their environment. Perhaps he'd grown up a bit, and he now thought like a sensible trainer of his age should. He held Pikachu in the cove created from him tucking the sides of his jacket together so the rodent wasn't suffering like his friends were, so maybe this was why he wasn't complaining of the terrible cold and not a newfound sense of maturity. The quiet (well, when one discounted the roaring wind) atmosphere was disrupted in the next few minutes, however.

     Misty pressed her foot down on a part of the rugged landscape, but unfortunately for her it was not solid. Her foot instantly went through it as she'd applied her full body weight as she took the fateful step, and in spite of her shrill screams for help her voice was barely a whisper in the wind. It had definitely become deafening, and it was only when Brock glanced behind them to see if she was tying her shoelace or something that he noted her immediate distress. The hole had enlarged and had now nearly engulfed her to her waist, but it felt like something was pulling her down more than just gravity. In her attempts to hoist herself up by fumbling around with some vines, Togepi fell from her grasp and into the abyss. Tears fell into the…vortex, for want of a better term she could use to describe it…as she screamed the baby pokémon's name repeatedly. Brock grabbed her under the armpits and pulled her up, ashen-faced at her loss. He comforted her and shared his body heat with her as they tried to catch up with Ash, as he hadn't noted their absence. Neither of them noted the wind lessening greatly, nor did they see the gaping crevice in which Misty had fallen glide silently shut like well-oiled gates, without even a centimetre of the vortex visible.

     Team Rocket finally made it up to where the whole incident had occurred, owing to the blizzard that sprang up from nowhere, and they'd all stopped, holding hands to make sure none of them were lost, as it would be impossible to find them alive again since the mountain was so high. Like Ash, James and Meowth were unaffected by the wind, but the female third of their group hated the weather. Jessie cried freely, knowing she could blame the harsh gales attacking her eyes so bitterly for her tears and not the real reason: how her mother had met her demise. She hated James for not noticing her depression, but she hated herself more for what she'd done the other night. He'd never forgive her, just like she'd never forgive herself for it. The last of the snow died down and she dried her eyes otherwise their numerous questions would demand answers, and telling them about her mother's fate was unthinkable. James' acute vision detected a small white object on a ledge above them, and in spite of Meowth telling him it was probably just a snowball, he went over alone to investigate. His shock alerted his comrades to his sides instantly, in spite of neither him nor Jessie making eye contact. He was still recovering from what she'd done the other night.

      It was Togepi up on the projection, wailing in fear as its enemies called at it to get down. It screamed its tiny lungs out in terror, then without a warning cry, it rolled off the ledge and landed with a sickening splatter a few feet away from them. Meowth cried, as he'd always wanted to look after it since before it had hatched. James was the only one to investigate, as morbid as he felt as he used his foot to turn the little creature over, unwilling to touch whatever matter would no doubt be on the other side. Or at least he intended to; he nearly broke every bone in his right foot as he tried to turn the object over—it was like it consisted of lead. Then, without warning yet again, the leaden creature turned over, completely uninjured or afraid from the fall. He easily leapt back ten feet without noticing it.

      The egg-type pokémon walked in his vicinity with its arms out, undoubtedly wanting to be cuddled by the scared male. James shook his head furiously in untold terror and disbelief at the creature's survival. Jessie covered her face with her gloved hands in shock, allowing her abdomen to turn a light shade of blue as its covering had been removed. Meowth was stunned and his fluffy coat stood like a jolteon's spiny back, _how had it lived?_ No matter how much he avoided its path, the pokémon seemed to only want James to amuse it, and as a last resort to get them to press forward in their journey, Jessie picked it up and headed off alone. They'd caught a rare pokémon, but it was one Giovanni had already refused in the past so they needed to dispose of it as soon as possible. Maybe they could trade for Pikachu. James sulkily followed her, hating every inch of the woman and her attitudes and loathing the fact he was still there, following her as if nothing happened. Meowth climbed up his back and hugged his neck, too afraid to walk near where Togepi had fallen. James gritted his teeth against the waterlogged coat the cat-type rubbed against his cheek. He knew his partner was cold but he truly did not care, and he maliciously hoped Togepi was colder than she was so it'd absorb her pitiful body heat.

      Her knees gave way from frostbite and she heavily fell down on her front, causing a panicked cry to be emitted by Togepi. James picked the egg up and carried on walking, inwardly filled with glee at leaving her behind in the snow in pain; it would show her how much she should value friendship. The chirping creature surprisingly soothed him in his arms, yet it did not grant him enough remorse to turn around and aid the stumbling female. The back of his neck had been incredibly sore over the last few days and now it seemed the pain was more intense and it was spreading down his spine. He couldn't afford medicine and refused to ask Jessie on principle for a massage like both of them did when they were suffering like that. He missed his footing a little and Togepi shrilly cried happily as he sailed a foot high as it happened, and this minor mistake caused his pain to treble, then amazingly it was gone altogether. Maybe the slight jerk had cured him, and it had saved his pride from approaching the younger Rocket. His vision again picked out something in the distance; the twerps.

      Ash was now aware of Misty's tragedy, and he felt complete sorrow for her from the depths of his heart. She'd loved that egg like he loved his badges, as after all, nobody could love anything as much as he loved his pokémon. Brock was still walking along with her, offering his body for her to lean against as they continued, both of them grateful the temperature had risen and that the elements seemed overall friendlier than they had earlier, but it still did not ease the girl's heartache. At the arch of the hill there were two silhouettes, and the all-familiar cries of a reworded motto ensued.

      "To protect the girl from devastation"

      "To donate instead a nice warm sensation"

      "To denounce the evils of hurt and pain"

      "To shut Jess up whilst we're all still sane"

      "Jessie!"

      "James!"

      "WHAT?!"

      Misty had interrupted when she saw her pet chirping contentedly away in James' arms, and with their traditional villainous laughs, the older teenagers demanded a trade, with Meowth adding his pleasure with the plan. And, as usual, Ash saved the day by electrocuting them for their foul deeds until they were sent into the stratosphere, but this time not all went according to plan. As the electricity struck them, Togepi went sailing over to Misty's arms and the pain returned to James' neck, only this time the tendrils of agony reached his fourth vertebrae. Togepi blinked as if recovering from a nightmare, and looked around in a confused manner at why it felt like it'd just woken up. Maybe it had, because the last thing it could recall was singing in Misty's arms when she lost her footing. Anyway, why should it feel confounded when Misty was making a fuss of it like this? It cooed cheerfully as they continued on their journey, unsure why it felt like it had partaken in something not so nice yet couldn't recall a thing.

      The entity had swapped from the pokémon to the person, that's why.


	2. The Darkness Grows Within

                                                                      The sweet taste of **VENOM**

      Misty lay awake unsettled. As much as she loved Togepi she felt something wasn't right about her pet, and she'd felt like that since seeing it in her enemies' possession. Ash and Brock slept soundly as did their pokémon, yet sleep eluded her as she pondered why the egg had lived through the surreal experience. Then again, they made it through more surreal adventures weekly than they ate warm nutritious meals. She shuddered occasionally without any great cause, unaware that the evil beckoned her, aware that she knew something was amiss and wanted her annihilated immediately in case she became too much of a threat to their existence. She continued to suppress her feelings for Ash as it was times like this when she was worried about something and all he'd care about was the next gym or meal. It was stupid, but she sometimes felt suicidal as she felt her life was monotonous and going nowhere fast. She stood up and dressed, intending to go for a walk to wear off her annoying insomnia as opposed to lying there inanely for a few more hours.

      Tension rose further by the minute at Team Rocket's camp, but there was nothing in the world that would make it bearable to live with or remove it. Animosity sparked dangerously across the room whenever eyes met, or when bodies touched, and quite frankly Meowth and the other pokémon had suffered enough of it. James' back was worse than before, leaving him more irritable and unwilling to accept Jessie's disposition for a minute longer. They were in a cottage reserved for Team Rocket members, but instead of this being a positive factor in their atrocious day, it made matters worse and neither wanted to sleep on the couch or together. Normally James would have jumped at either in an attempt to please her or gain her attention, but not anymore. He still hadn't forgotten what she'd done, nor was he likely to any time in the near future, if indeed at all. They were now acrimoniously fighting over whose turn it was to have a shower, and once again neither intended to back down before their partner. In the end Jessie stormed into the bathroom and turned the shower on as she slammed the door noisily to drive the nail in, but James wasn't going to let her win that easily. He opened the door, ignoring the fact she was getting undressed as he grabbed her by the arm and threw her out into the hallway on her rear. He'd had the sense to pocket the keys to every room when they first entered the house in case such a situation arose and took his time in locking the door, as he wanted her to hear every turn of the metal utensil. She ignored the fact she was only in her skimpy black t-shirt and skirt as she hammered her fists repeatedly on the wooden panelling. It came to no use however, as he just gained pleasure out of her frustration instead of sympathy, which is what she probably hoped he'd feel. She screamed out in aggravation before returning to the bedroom and angrily scribbling her thoughts into her journal, almost wishing he'd find it and see how she felt instead of treating her terribly for the rest of their lives.

     On it grew, savouring the heightened emotions in its host…

    James left the hot water running as he dried himself off, taking every ounce of heat out of it now that he'd used the quantity he desired, and the experience in the snow was almost a forgotten issue as he felt at a comfortable temperature. He hoped his partner froze. It was what she deserved for her attitude and actions, and he wanted her to know he'd reached his limit and not ready to turn back to how they were. Part of him wanted to kiss, hold and love her and let it all be forgotten, except to imagine such an outcome possible would just be being delusional. His back was slightly easier after the scalding water acted as a powerful masseuse to the tired youth's spine, and the pain retracted by a bone. He switched the shower off and walked out with the key in his pocket in case Jessie felt like locking him out, even though seeing her dripping wet wouldn't act the least bit sexually arousing for him. He engaged in a brief conversation with Meowth before entering the bedroom and locking the door behind him. There was not going to be a possibility of her leaving before he'd finished with her…


	3. Sex, Lies, And Fantasies That Backfire

      He walked over to her with a stride more aggressive than assertive, his intentions clearer than crystal in his mind, the pain increasing down his spine again. At least the one thing he was absolutely certain of was that nobody could call him spineless. Jessie glanced up and fear flashed across her eyes as he sat beside her, his left hand resting beside her right hip without touching her body. His fist pressed deep into the mattress, which unsettled her; he'd never once acted like this in the past. She'd never betrayed his trust to the extreme before either. His eyes were locked onto hers, causing her to drop the pen she'd been using from being so startled at the change in him. His voice never altered in pitch or tone as he spoke to her, yet she felt deeply intimidated as he coolly told her that crying was a weakness, as she frequently reminded him, so why was she betraying her beliefs as well as her friends? She brushed the hot angry tears away with the bottom of her palm, hating herself for having been discovered like that when she'd been adamant to win the argument over the shower.

      He took the pen and journal from her and moved them behind her back, his body against her stiff one as he rested his head on her shoulder to view the book as he wrote. She wanted to put her arms around his ribs, embrace him and draw him even closer against her, but she knew it wasn't a serious possibility. All the same, their proximity was causing her heart to beat faster out of more than just fear. She occasionally heard him turning pages, but even if he was going backwards in the book, she knew he wasn't reading it; she felt the inviting throb convulse gently in his arm as he wrote continuously. Then the throb stopped, as did his harsh attitude towards her. He leant backwards to face and look her in the eyes with what looked like genuine remorse.

     He moved his hand to her cheek and gently caressed her as his elbow teasingly rested on her chest, making her become acutely aware that she still wore only her tiny tank top and mini skirt. She also wondered what he was planning, or was he actually indisputably sorry for his cold treatment towards her? No, she deserved every ounce of his hatred. Her senses were heightened enough as it was without him easing his free hand along her bare leg, nor his fingers driving her wild beyond the realms of temptation as they reached the top of her inner thigh and she almost involuntarily spread her legs whilst he toyed with the soft flesh that lay beneath the wet material. His breath along her neck drove her almost feral and she put her arms around his neck to pull him nearer. She felt like putty in his hands as he exhaled a sentence before closing the distance between their lips.

      "I see you left last Tuesday blank, I'll give you something to write about today"

                                                                                                              **

       Misty's insomnia led her to the cottage and something bristled inside her as she saw her crush touching his partner, and this jealousy brought stinging tears to her eyes. She'd suspected they were too touchy-feely to just be friends for quite some time, but seeing hard evidence hurt her violently. Even though a tiny bedside light only lighted the room, she was able to have a clear view of Jessie's crotch from the location the bed was in compared to the window through which she viewed. Seeing James touching her intimately broke her heart. She turned and ran, not caring where to, just as long as it was away from that sight. She didn't need to see them having sex, but by doing this she didn't see the wondrous flash of crimson illuminate the woods moments later…

      It grew at an alarming rate as its host's emotions almost peaked, creating more pain for the male in the process, but he ignored it as he concentrated on Jessie.

                                                                                                             **

      Pikachu leapt up from where it slept, sensing a great evil in the forest that caused every hair of its furry body to stand erect similar to a jolteon's coat. Its cheeks crackled mysteriously and against its will as it scanned the vicinity for the object that created its terror, seeing nothing out of the ordinary—Togepi floated on an electric blue cloud of its own accord; Brock was calling out the numerous names of women he fantasised about on a regular basis plus a few new additions; Ash seemed to be practising new goofy victory poses in his sleep, twisting his hair backwards in his cap's absence. (' Wow! I won the Silver Conference again! Wow, another seventy pokémon, I've got to catch 'em all and be the best!') Brock suddenly sat up in a cold sweat and slapped his face repeatedly. Pikachu thought someone else must feel the menacing presence and looked at him with a deep sense of relief, until he fell over animé-style upon hearing him mutter 'but they're so big I thought they had to be real, and Jesse's a girls' name!' in disgust, obviously having engaged in imaginary intercourse with her, only for her to transform into James again. He'd been suffering from this nightmare every night since seeing them both dressing up as Officer Jenny. Now he deliberately avoided fantasising about her, or anything to do with handcuffs after that.


	4. Hurt Causes Pain But Also Freedom For So...

      Jessie shot into the bathroom at breakneck speed, then she barricaded the door shut even though there was nobody behind her waiting to gain entrance. She hoped beyond relief that James wouldn't lock her in out of malice as she turned on the water to allow it to heat up, becoming frantic at the sight of her blood dripping on the lacquered floor. Her tears of anxiety accompanied it on its descent to the ground, yet it was all she could do to stop screaming out as she stood under the highly infuriating, no mocking, cold water. Why had he acted so selfishly when he had his shower? She was cold enough from the mountains, but more importantly she needed warm water to get the blood off her skirt. Gods she wished she was a virgin again; the pain was unbearable.

      James sat back on the bed, staring intently at the ruby liquid of vitality on the white bed linen, on the floor from when she'd run out immediately for a rapid exit away from him, but what caught his attention most was her blood on his body. He felt like he'd taken the feud too far by hurting her like this, but had he? She'd asked for it, even though she hadn't expressed her desires vocally. It wasn't supposed to be like this—where was the person who'd been his best friend and crush for years? More importantly, where was he, and why were they like this? He left the room and washed the stain of her blood from his skin, unable to do the same for the one besmirching his thoughts. At least his back wasn't so sore anymore.

      Pikachu trembled erratically as it paced a fraught circle; its coat had not yet returned to its smooth appearance, nor had anyone else detected the evil force. In one way it hoped its owner never awoke whilst the presence still haunted the area, as the frightened pikachu believed this was going to be nothing like anything they'd faced together in the past. It truly believed Ash could not face the opponent and leave victorious, or even remain alive, which was exactly why it didn't want him to awaken and wonder why his pet looked like that. Brock had returned to his slumber without a comment other than the moans of an anguished teenager when he realised that he'd slept alone. Even a transforming woman was better than none. Misty was still not back which made the rodent afraid for her safety, yet like a magnet he was secured to that area; protecting Ash came first, even if it meant his friend lost her life.

      Misty wept when she finally ground to a halt in her hysterical flight from the image that broke her heart. Why the hell had they done it in clear view of the window? Then again, one would hardly assume strangers would stare at them in such a moment. What she didn't realise, however, was that the teenagers hadn't had sex, in fact it was nothing like it other than an incredibly cruel trick played on Jessie by the frustrated male through his pain. He'd bitten her lip harshly instead of kissing her and scratched her genitals with as much force as he could summon, cutting into her soft flesh more than he'd meant to. The blood had appeared instantly, without the standard wait for it to show like in other cuts, and since she was so used to pain shock didn't delay the bleeding. She'd smacked him across the face, making the pain unbearable throughout his spine, and then the crimson flash had appeared in the woods. The creature had officially left its hostess.


	5. The Sore, The Hated And The Competition

            Jessie felt far weaker than she had done in a long while, not because she'd lost a good deal of blood, but the creature had leeched energy in the short time it had possessed her. She felt numb; not only from the cold water lashing her mercilessly—mainly from the way her best friend (no, ex-best friend, she corrected herself) hurt her with more than just his nails. That had been the final nail hammered into their friendship—he was on one side, sealing the lid, and she was choking for air on the other side as he lowered her beneath him. She'd reached the stage of trauma where she couldn't cry anymore, nor could she reveal her misery in any way. She could hit her head against a wall and nothing would register in her system; she wasn't even aware of the violent shivering her body underwent. She was still losing blood but it was more of a steady drip than the gushing it had initially been. She didn't want to kill him, yet it seemed the only end to her self-hatred. Her heart leapt to her mouth as she heard a swift knock upon the door. She knew she was vulnerable and he had the key—if he came in she knew she didn't have a chance.

          "Go away!"

          "Jess, let me apologise; I don't know what just came over me, are you all right?"

          "Do you think I'm okay after something like that?"

          "No, of course not. It was a stupid question"

          "Do you still think I deserved it? I didn't use malice when I screwed you over yet you feel it was a crime that I deserve death for"

          "You're not dying are you? Oh gods I didn't hit an artery did I? Jess believe me when--"

          "Why should I listen to you? I'm not dying, but you will be if you continue to pester me. Fuck off and don't return"  
  


          With silent tears pacing along his face as if it were a ski slope, he followed her advice. Once he reached the door outside, he ran as hard as he could for as long as he could, stopping only when the tears tore what little breath he had from him. She was right, she may have crushed him last week, but she hadn't intentionally done it through viciousness like he had. He vaguely noted the excruciating pain returning to his back as he wallowed in anger, pain and disgust simultaneously, not hearing the creature creeping up behind him, its goal solidly set intensely into its head.

          In spite of her not wanting to do it, Jessie returned to the bedroom once she was certain that James had left the shack for good, in search of something dry to put on, something that would cover as much of her body up as possible. She picked up her diary and was going to finish writing the day's entrants when she remembered James had been writing in it. Her blood ran cold in shock as she read the notes left for her on each day. Bitch. Slut. Worthless tramp. Lying excrement. Moral-less. Callous whore. There were many others far more graphic and nastier than those, but for rating value as one reason it would not look very nice in print if all descriptions of his ex-best friend were given. She turned to Tuesday to see what he'd written, in disbelief that she had been becoming in the mood for sex whilst he was writing as much to degrade her as possible.

          _Screwed partner and his head too. He's such an easy target, glad that I didn't have to bother my lazy worthless ass going any further than five feet for an easy lay, but of course it takes one to know one. I was brutal in bed as always, yet it was fun to drive his emotions in one direction, and then send them completely in the opposite direction. I'd nearly do it again, if only to see his face when I told him what I thought of him. But that isn't going to happen, there's nothing in this world that would make me go that low again, as nothing could ever equal my self-disgust. Correction: disgusting self._

          Orbs of salty water sprang from her eyes and splashed down on the page, causing the ink to travel all across the page and making the hastily written words appear more sinister than before. She couldn't say anything though; it was her doing that created his hurt like this. She angrily slammed the book shut and stormed out of the bedroom, taking meticulous steps to avoid walking in her clotting blood on the floor. It hurt like hell for her to walk as it wasn't at all pleasant to her new wounds, but she didn't want to stay in the room where she'd received them a moment longer.

          Misty walked dejectedly back to camp, noticing Togepi was safe on the grass, apparently having finished with its electric blue levitation cloud murmuring in its sleep about whatever dream it was encountering in its subconscious levels. (AN: Yep, Charles Rocketboy, it probably _is_ making its plans to obliterate the planet!) She noticed how Pikachu resembled a pincushion and instantly went over to it and quietly asked what was wrong. Pikachu squeaked out a reply instead of its usually confident voice, but once she had the gist of what was wrong she lost all feelings of jealousy and disgust and immediately began on working out a plan where they could make a fast exit without Ash asking any questions. She didn't mind Brock knowing as he saw the sensible side of life and would get out immediately as opposed to standing ground and fighting an opponent of which they knew nothing. Then the perfect idea sparked into her head, and she pulled it into action after fighting Brock away from his perverted dreams and telling him what Pikachu had said. She shook Ash violently awake, excitedly telling him something he would consider of great importance.

        "Ash, hey Ash _do_ wake up! I just heard about this awesome competition on in Violet City; the trainer at least ten miles away from there to bring a pokémon resembling a household object will win a prize, and instant access into the Silver Conference! I've been working on it with Pikachu and he looks like a comb don't you think?"

        "Wha--?"

        "Look at Pikachu and see if you agree. Of course, if you won, it'd be something you'd have that Gary never would"

        "Grrrr that Gary! Lead me to this competition, I'm not letting him beat me in this, I'll show him…."

        Pikachu rolled its eyes, feeling disgusted that the person who aspired to be the greatest trainer in the world could fall for anything at the mention of his rival—he'd gotten up to march off to a city miles away in the dead of the night just to win a title that didn't exist. In fact the rodent often wished Gary had been the one that overslept, as it would mean a different trainer for the pokémon and it might need to use its brain once in a while when it wished to deceive its trainer. Plus Gary could probably put on his jeans the right way around, unlike Ash who was also wondering where the buckle on his belt had gone when it was really unfastened on the other side.

        James' misery and self-loathing distracted him altogether from realising the pain was fifty times worse than before, nor did he realise that the creature was standing right behind him now, its hand stretching out to touch the back of his exposed neck…


	6. Flashback To A Drunken Game

        It had started so simply; the evening was wonderful, and all three of them acted much closer than they had done in months—that's what happens when one receives an unexpected victory in their job. Upon delivering the stolen rare pokémon to Team Rocket headquarters, Giovanni had presented them with a hefty paycheque, most of which was already saved in their meagre bank account, but the humans had treated them to fine food and enough alcohol to knock out a lamp post. As the night wore on, Meowth left the party to partake in a night's hunt even though he wasn't especially hungry on this occasion. Something positive had changed in the atmosphere, and he didn't want to be the unwanted third wheel whilst their moods were like this.

        Jessie had, for some unknown reason, decided to challenge her partner to a staring contest in spite of their highly intoxicated state of being, throwing in the clause that each time someone lost, they had to remove an item of clothing. She knew she didn't have a hope of winning when she lost the first four consecutively, so she used foul tactics to ensure she didn't lose the next. As suspected, his eyes immediately flew to where her hand was on her person. He became wise to this trick, and in spite of having to suppress his overdriven hormones by not enjoying a free porn show, he won the next couple of matches by pretending to be drunk enough to know she was a transvestite, even though he knew for a fact from what he'd seen that she wasn't.

        She was down to her last item of clothing, and he wanted more than anything to watch her exposed chest, but he knew if he won this round the reward could be greater. She decided to cheat again, by sitting on his lap with her legs enticingly wrapped around his waist so he could feel most of her pressed against him. She felt part of him pressing against her and she looked down for a second, knowing instantly she lost. He slid his fingers around the material and eased the last item off; savouring every second of it, as he knew it would probably be the only chance in his life to do it. She challenged him to one final round, where he replied she had nothing else to lose as his eyes wandered over her body. She tilted his head upwards to make eye contact with her before revealing that there was still one thing she could lose. The hungry look was visible in both pairs of eyes when she lost by blinking, yet they satisfied it with means other than food.

        The next morning he'd woken up first, and the first thing he did was stare at the sight in his arms in disbelief; he'd thought it had just been a very satisfying dream induced by the alcohol he'd consumed (miraculously he wasn't suffering with a hangover). She looked almost serene in her sleep, so he avoided movement in case it woke her up; he finally felt ready to tell her how he felt about her whilst sober, praying she wanted something more than casual sex. When she woke up, however, his plans leapt out of a fifty-floor building and were squashed by all between it and the ground. She took one look at him and groaned, saying she'd thought it had just been a drawn-out nightmare.

        Maybe she's just got a really bad headache or something; she didn't mean that, surely? 

        She shot him one look of disgust to question why he was still holding her before she stood up as quickly as she could with minimal staggering, heading towards the smouldering ashes of the campfire to gather her clothes up again. She touched herself once and spat a comment out at him that degraded him for making her bleed. He was crushed by her actions—_she'd_ been the one to lead him on for it! He hurriedly pulled on the clothing beside his sleeping bag that he'd worn up until the point they'd made love and joined her to question her total change of heart, yet all he received in response from her was an uppercut and a demand for him to leave her alone until he knew how to be a half-way decent lover.

        Her comments were icier and more frequent by the end of the day; with each hurtful word or punch she felt less human with the way she treated him, but was far too proud to admit she regretted her attitude. She felt it was just as dangerous to turn back as it was to continue so she battered his self-esteem relentlessly. After a couple of days, he'd had enough of her treatment and began hating her for it, thinking he wasn't as worthless as she implied along with his own change of heart. She'd crossed the line by too many paces this time.

                                                                                                               ****

        Meowth sat on the windowsill in the tiny kitchen, looking out into the night with his midnight blue irises, wondering how his friends went from best friends to arch nemeses in the span of two weeks. His tail flicked irately against his will; partly because he was stuck in the middle of a sticky situation, partly because he was certain something was in the woods near them that shouldn't be, yet he had no proof to soothe his thoughts that the latter was non-existent. He'd initially thought Jessie deserved everything she got from the way she'd treated James, but upon hearing her screams a quarter of an hour ago he didn't know to what extent he'd exacted his revenge. At least he knew they were both alive from the footsteps his sharp hearing detected, plus the soft whimpering he heard his female friend emitting intermittently. Suddenly the soft noises stopped, and he heard the gentle walk of the injured woman violated by sharp intakes of breath, the kind one generally makes when in discomfort. He asked her how she was as she soaked a cloth under the tap; her response was showing him the lacerations. He visibly winced as she did whilst applying the cloth to her nether region. He could almost hear her thoughts praying that James wasn't about to return, his own joining her for the moment, until she'd cleaned herself up and let the pain subside a bit first. His tail had inconspicuously picked up speed and fluffed out as his other friend became acquainted with his other friend.


	7. Human And Creature Collide And Feature

            Something strange happened, and nothing could prepare those affected in any manner that would make the shock any less. Ash stopped, and stared at his companions, and asked them if such a competition really existed, or was it merely a ploy to get them out of the area. Misty blanched and wondered what had gone wrong in her plan—why of all times did he have to get a brain now, when their lives were in mortal danger? She sweat-dropped before shrugging away his question and saying that she'd heard it almost the instant the competition opened.

             "How?"

             "How what?"  
             "How did you hear about it?"

             "Uhhh…I was by the stream and a Clefairy told me!"

             "Where's the Clefairy now?"  
             "I don't know, probably off telling other people about it right now. Are you saying I made this up? I'm telling you now that I didn't dream it, just for us to get up and walk a few hundred miles in the middle of the night for the hell of it; I thought it'd be something you'd be interested in. Of course, if you want to leave the titles for some other trainer—Gary, perhaps—then turn around and go back to sleep Ash"

             "Gary? Grrrr I'm not letting him win this competition, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and I'm going to be the world's number one trainer, I'll show him! Get a move on Misty!"

             "But Ash, you were the one who stopped and turned around the wrong way, you're walking back the way we came!"

             But Brock was wrong with his navigational skills; they'd stood in a triangle shape whilst the argument had taken place, and he thought the road ahead looked familiar, yet it was the path they followed now that brought them back to the evil within.

                                                                                                                      ***

             Whilst his companions held their conversation, albeit a depressing one, James dwelt hard on the events of the last week, and the more he thought about it the more he felt that something wasn't adding up right. He felt a tingle run along his spine, still having not noticed the return of the dismal pain all that much, so he stretched slightly until he heard a satisfactory _popping _sound—as well as a gasp as he touched something behind him that he hadn't expected.

             He jolted and turned to face whoever was near him, since he thought he'd been alone the entire time, which threw a spanner in the works of the creature's intentions. It worked fast to create a distraction so he wouldn't suspect anything, and took on the form of a young woman, the transformation smoothly complete before the slightly disoriented male focused in on her properly. A slight blush rose across his cheeks as he offered an apology for touching her, losing concentration on everything around him as he looked into her eyes; the creature's spell was working and he was becoming enchanted by it in all forms of the word. 'She' accepted his apology and said that her boyfriend had deliberately lost her in the woods, so she'd been looking for somebody else as all the trees looked the same, the fabrication gliding smoothly from the evil creature's lips. Whilst toying with a piece of loose hair over his eyes, she apologised for startling him, then she whispered that she felt cold from the little clothing she wore, and pressed closer to the male, driving his thoughts and hormones into overload. Some prey was just too willing.

             All of Meowth's fur fluffed out to the point of nearly suffocating him when the unknown force touched his friend, and although he knew Jessie would still be pissed off at him, he told her that they had to leave the hovel right at that minute to save him, to which she retorted in an extremely foul manner. He repeated his request, coupled with a growl far worse than any he'd used before when angry. Not even Giovanni or the Persian that had stolen his love away had deserved that amount of contempt. She shot him a panicked look as she said she'd go, taking great care in covering her wounds so they wouldn't be too bad as she walked, but she still cried when the cold of the outside atmosphere hit them. It was too cold for what it should be at that time of year; their breaths crystallised as they hit the air, Jessie's eyes stung in severe pain and the ground crunched beneath their steps, signifying the unknown force was definitely in existence, and was definitely a danger they should fear. They found James almost immediately, but they could see the creature as what it should be, not as the illusion it had created to lure James into its clutches. It looked like they were too late to save him.

AN

Thanks to my reviewers, and I apology for the slight delay with this chapter. If anyone wants to see a quick sketch of what's enchanting James, head to the website address in my profile, it's saved in the original art section as 'creature.jpg'. For some reason fanfiction.net won't let me display the link in typed formed, never mind hyperlink! Grrrrrrrr! Thanks to Charles Rocketboy for pointing that out too!


	8. Believe A Friend, Or Follow Your Hormone...

             "James, get the hell away from that…_thing_…NOW!"

             The startled male in question spanned out of the creature's control momentarily, but he was facing Jessie as he demanded he knew what she was doing instead of seeing the beautiful woman's true form. She was utterly astounded that he chose to carry on their ridiculous feud instead of thanking her for saving his life. He obviously hadn't seen the snarling beast yet due to a magic or something…then a chilling thought struck her; what if he **had**, and he wanted to work with it without it holding any influence over him at all? After all, he _had_ scraped her without its presence, so why was she assuming they weren't along the same wavelengths in evil?_ Because I love him, and I hope that even after all the stupid fights we've had, I hope he loves me back._

              "I told you to leave me alone, now go back to bitching about me Jessie, you're good at that"

              "As if I'd come all the way out here, in spite of what you did, to save your life only for you to order my departure. I refuse to acknowledge your demand this time, so you'd better start listening to mine. Get away from it James"

              "Piss off. Just because you can't have me doesn't entitle you the right to belittle anybody else that can"

              "I don't degrade any women—or men for that matter—that you choose to go out with, but that's not even human"

              "How do you know what's human and what isn't when you live to hurt and hate? There's nothing more pathetic than a woman that's led a full life of laughter and enjoyment then becomes tarnished to the world, yet you only hated and made sure nobody could better you in any field. If you had an elixir of life, you'd probably drink it not because you want to live forever, but because you prefer spoiling things for people than helping them"

              "Spoilt? I'm trying to save your life here, you're not letting me help and I'M the spoilt one?"

              "No, you're the stupid interfering bitch that can't bear to see anyone happy and gladly sabotages everything in your path and wake. You're the one most likely to hand a suicidal person a cut-throat razor and tell them to get a move on with it"

              "And you're the one more likely to tell them how precious life is, and why they should love rather than hate, but right now I'm assuming your role James, because you clearly aren't in a clear-headed state to do so. That thing there is eyeing you up, since you'll probably be its next meal or whatever it wants to do to you, so come here James. Please"

             The creature released a whimper that sounded like mocking laughter to the feline and female, but more like a scared cry from a vulnerable woman to James; whilst the battle of words had taken place through the actual human, the creature regained its composure, so its illusion was once more without flaw. It chose to keep the ability for the others to see it, as it made savouring its prey more enjoyable when it had an audience. It didn't even need to make the subject say anything; he was acting hurtful of his own accord. It pulled him closer to its foul body, pricking his skin slightly with its claws. In any event, he didn't notice it, as he felt too preoccupied with his friends interfering when he finally had a chance of getting a date. The pricking created a mistake that the creature failed to anticipate; it took the control off its subject.

             "Just leave me alone Jessie, or do you want me to do something else to you? I came here to get away from you, I was sorry for what I did, but I'm not feeling remorse for the way you're acting now. Take a chill-pill—or something stronger—and disappear. Leave us alone, imagine what you're doing to this poor…"

             James stopped. He'd turned to face his potential girlfriend, a face of something other than outstanding beauty snarling in his face.


	9. The Creature's Competition

         He didn't know what was harder, seeing the beast's teeth and imagining if it would really eat him, or privately admitting Jessie was right all along. In any event, he swallowed his discomfort and decided to play a card that his stomach would never have thought possible; he pulled the creature closer to his body and held it against him without allowing a tremor ripple in his fingers. To make his show more effective, he would have kissed it but he couldn't risk a misjudgement of where her lips could be—if he said he just had bad aim when he kissed what was supposed to be her eye by accident, then there'd only be one other opening for a retry and the illusion would obviously no longer work. He just hoped that his initial reaction to seeing his 'girlfriend' hadn't been seen by anybody; if his partners saw it, they'd scream for him to run now while they had a chance.

         "If you don't get the hell away from her this instant, I'll leave and you'll never see me again, is that what you want?"  
He raced the beast once more and ran his hand along its back, ignoring the blood sprouting up along his palm in its wake due to the spines along its spine, and whispered a question, asking her what 'her' name was, praying he'd be able to decipher its answer. He knew that dog-types were wonderfully accurate at detecting fear by owning one through his betrothal with Jessibelle, and he hoped this creature didn't hold such talents. He heard what he thought was 'Mihrasta' but he couldn't be certain, so he said the word again to make it seem that he wanted to perfect her name and the creature nodded, snarling something like her parents were foreign and wanted to acknowledge their roots. He found the whole thing very hard to believe, especially now he was wondering when the creature would drop the pretence and go for him. He excused himself when he heard another insult thrown in his direction to coax him into running, and then stood squarely in front of his partner so his back was completely facing the monster but his face was exposed to Jessie. He kept the harsh tone the whole time he spoke to her, but it was his expressions that told her to search for the deeper meanings behind them.

         "Get the hell away from here Jessie, nobody told you to come here and I certainly don't want you to be anywhere near me"

         "Nobody invited me, as you just put it, but friends are supposed to look out for one another, regardless of how inconsiderate and churlish they can be"

         "I'm going to say this once more Jessica so listen up: I'm not going to let you stand around here whilst I'm with something other than you, okay? Now just turn around, walk away and pretend I've disappeared for an hour or two, can you trust me to be unattended for that long, or will I need your supervision?"

         She tuned out the sarcasm the instant she heard her full name being mentioned, and she immediately knew what he was trying to pull off. Fear struck her as she suddenly realised that it was almost certain death if he went through with it, as the ploy was hardly likely to work for all that much longer. Her face went from that of a set expression of trying to order him away from a demon, to that of despair as she realised she could lose the best friend she ever had, even though he'd been an abominable jerk to her as of late, even though she'd brought it upon herself. She shook her head in disbelief, tears lacing her eyes as she struggled to find words to convince him there was no point in his attempt at being noble. She saw the consideration in his eyes and became determined to free him from his plan, so she grabbed the cuff of his sleeve and pulled him towards her, but he held his ground, shrugged off her hand from his wrist and shook his head, wordlessly telling her that he wouldn't risk her life by doing it. He rested his right hand on her shoulder, and with a sympathetic smile, he pushed her away, mouthing the words 'take care, honey'. She cried openly as she regained her footing from her backwards stumble, but the heart-wrenching moment was destroyed when she was pulled back further and held up by her throat by the creature's talons. With a sinister sneer, it squeezed the claws closer together, and whilst she struggled for air, Mihrasta turned to James and told him not to cheat on her.

          But she'd been standing with her back to him when she'd twisted her neck around to face him, without moving any other part of her body.


	10. Two Against One, But Who's On Their Own?

         James had no idea what to do or say as he witnessed the terrible sight before him, not entirely certain the beast's manipulation of its neck was scarier than the thought of losing his best friend in the universe. Mihrasta, if that was the creature's true name, had obviously tired of its little charade and now longed for something a little more hardcore to satisfy its lust. Its cravings for warm, fear-tasting blood overcame the odd foreplay it had decided on with the male, and now there were two young people about to come corpses, undoubtedly flavoured with the taste it so badly desired.

         Jessie was unable to breathe in as much oxygen as she needed, restrained more from her own panic than Mihrasta's action. She felt blood trickle down her neck, but she ignored it as she concentrated more on the fact her jugular was still as it should be. Her oesophagus felt the crushing pressure increase with each breath, short relief coming when she exhaled but this was extremely brief since her breathing found no regularity. Aside from the tight grip, Jessie wasn't in any great pain or danger, it being her panic that made her in discomfort and terror at the potential loss of her friend's life. The outcome of her own was irrelevant to the terrified teenager.

         James snapped out of his reverie as the creature snarled repeatedly at him; it was incredibly difficult for him to understand what the evil organism was saying when it wasn't trying to seduce him as a beautiful woman (he was relieved beyond belief he hadn't even kissed the beast, never mind what his hormones had begged him to do to help him get over Jessie's spiteful remarks about his ability in the sack). When he caught a few words from the demon's foam-flecked mouth, he paled even though he was still unaware of the words' deepest meaning. He strained his ears against the dog-type's sounds, and suddenly found himself capable of capturing every hateful thought Mihrasta sprouted, as much as he decided he didn't want to hear.

         "Did you honestly expect my sharp hearing not to hear the three decibel advice you just told her? You were meant to be mine, human. I need to exact revenge for what you did to my mother. You and me alone"

         "I think there's been a mistake, I don't know who your mother is, I don't even know who—or _what—you are. Please put her down and let's work things out rationally. Don't hurt her"_

         "This thing I hold in my hand is my mother, she fed me with enough energy and hatred until her depression peaked and I was born"

         "I have no idea what you're saying, please put her down and let her breathe. She'll asphyxiate if you carry on like this"

         "Hypocritical fool, you think you can watch me squeeze the life out of what you wanted as your squeeze and carry out some heroic stunt that'll win you her romance and you'll live happily ever after, never worrying about the creature you slew for love in the forest one dark night. I tell from your eyes you want her, need to feel the contours of her body beneath you in more wanton moments. I know that she hates you within your soul, maybe hidden further and deeper than you humans find possible of searching, but I know for a fact that it must be true. How else could she have created me?"

        "Hang on, she didn't create you, neither of us knew of your existence before now"

        "You both knew I existed you filthy liar, maybe not directly but the pair of you definitely felt my presence"

        "How could she have borne something like you, a completely different species, without either of us knowing? I was her first and her stomach has not had anywhere near nine months to expand since then"

        "It's always reproduction with you vile creatures, never mind any other possibility where clothes remain on as an outcome. You have no idea whether or not she knew I was growing inside her. You don't even know what she's thinking right now. You might not even care if you consider that for long enough"

         Without a noise in warning, it released its hold from what it called its 'mother', allowing her the privilege of gracelessly crumpling in a heap on the floor. Her body trembled from the sheer overwhelming shock of it all, unable to catch complete sentences from her aggressor like her friend could, hearing only parts of them that made them more sinister sounding and threatening tenfold compared to how they were anyway. She held her heavy breathing, pausing to see how easy it was to detect the true words in the thick alien growl. Though she suddenly felt more at ease than she had in a long time, unaware the creature was feeding her truths that seemed surreal, but the more she thought about them, the less they seemed like potential falsehoods. She released a cruel smile laced with an eerie laughter, and then in a voice most unlike her usual one, she turned to the evil creature and said:

          "I think playtime's over, don't you my darling?"

                                                                                                                                      *AN*

I apologise profusely for the incredible delay with the deliverance of this chapter, but things have been hectic for me, alas not always in a positive nature! I've been threatened with being thrown out rather frequently now, even when I honestly haven't done anything to provoke such comments. I have a possible place to abode, so if the gods are feeling generous I may be bestowed with a little fortune. Oh yeah, I'm engaged so as a wedding-to-be present please review this! Chapter's short, but better than nothing, yeah?


	11. Tree Punctured Testicles

The sweet taste of venom coursed its sinister path along Jessie's blood vessels, poisoning her thoughts as the evil within reawakened. Her eyes glinted in a vicious manner, making her temper-related glares of the past look as dark as a baby's smile. She was beyond malevolent, and he felt horrified to watch this transformation right before him. Was she really responsible for the hideous monster before him? Did she hate him to the extent implied? Were those teeth as sharp as they appeared?

James stumbled backwards and tripped over a tree root, landing painfully on his rear as he backed away from the evil creatures before him. Sweat leaked profusely from his pores as fear sank in, wrapping itself around from his voice box so he couldn't bring himself to reason with her. The situation didn't look like it was about to turn into his favour, so he closed his eyes and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart down before he destroyed his own blood vessels with stress. Shooting pains returned to his backbone and he noticed that his left arm was sore too; either he'd landed on it strange or he was too late to save his heart. In any event, he never risked his heart by being honest with Jessie, though it had been her fault after they'd been drunk.

Pikachu was nearly passing out from its spiked coat, wishing it was with people who could learn how to walk without getting lost or back-tracking as was now the case. Togepi had a surly expression and didn't seem afraid in the slightest, though it seemed to be annoyed at someone, or more specifically, at some_thing_. It was meant to be the creature of evil here, and if it wasn't, then what was its purpose in life? It was fed-up with living in a half-cracked shell, but if it didn't have it, there was nothing it could do to gather minions. At least this way it could make people look at it and think it was cute, and as they admired it, it could mentally control them and add them to its by-now vast army.

Brock was admiring the scantily-clad women on the map again instead of focusing on the danger Misty had warned him about, assuming they were walking in the right direction as they hadn't turned around, to the best of his knowledge, as he'd forgotten about when Ash had stopped to ask a few questions and they'd inadvertently turned around.

Misty felt a little more at ease as they'd walked at a nice brisk pace, away from the danger, or so she thought. She felt like a break from the dark place, and by the next time she'd run into James, she'd be over her crush on him as she realised him sleeping with his partner was to be expected, but her thoughts were broken by a blood-chilling scream emanating not that much further away from where they stood. Simultaneously, her and her travelling companions looked at each other before running into the area, ignoring their potential deaths in the name of assistance. Besides, in the years they'd travelled together, none of them had contracted so much as a bruise in spite of all the actions they'd taken in the past.

When they got there, the scene was horrific. James was suspended from a high bough of an ancient twisted hazel, the tendrils of its branches inserted into his skin, blood dripping down. Nobody found it unusual that he was naked—the males winced visibly and felt their bodies constrict in discomfort at the location of two of the tendrils—they were too busy being occupied watching the creatures in charge of this performance, for want of a better description. Jessie looked inhuman with the sinister glint across her face, nobody knew what the creature beside her was, which is why Ash thought it would be a clever idea to use his Pokédex to find out what it was.

Big mistake.


	12. Murdering Your Best Friend

Ash's Pokédex bleeped and whirred into life. In spite of James' ongoing bloodcurdling screams, this drew attention towards them immediately. Even he went momentarily silent and his eyes went wider in horror as he saw the new victims. In spite of the years' of mutual dislike, he was not willing to watch another bloodbath before his helpless eyes. He shouted for them to get away from there, to run as fast as they could and never look back until he was silenced by a limb of the tree curling around his neck, splinters rupturing the skin mercilessly as the branch cracked with pressure. He barely registered the pain though; there were too many spots of agony on his body for his system to identify a new one. Even though he'd seen Jessie command the thing to attack him, he still regretted hurting her. He felt worse knowing he'd caused her depression to magnify itself to that level, and part of him was glad she was hurting him back. It was probably the only part of him that wasn't already in extreme pain.

Before Dexter could even start saying "pokémon unknown", it smashed into thousands of little pieces as Mihrasta's claws connected with it. Ash stood his ground and faced the monster, wondering if it was still possible to catch it. He then decided it was, twisted his cap back and started to order Pikachu to use thunderbolt attack on it. He stopped when he saw that his faithful friend had passed out and was taking increasingly shallower breaths. Jessie briefly regained control of her senses, and said "no". Grudgingly Mihrasta settled for inflicting a mere surface wound to Ash's chest to sate its urges. The spreading warmth in his jeans (with belt buckle still open at the back) made him realise that this was far more serious than any other situation he'd been able to reign victorious in before.

Misty's body was wracked with violent sobs, shaking uncontrollably as she saw her crush bleeding so much in his spread-eagled position. Was it really less than half an hour ago that she was storming away from the hut jealously? Then again it seemed a lifetime ago since they walked into that clearing, and now she'd willingly give the rest of her life just to stop that image burning in her eyes. She longed to know whether it would have turned out differently if she had stayed and made her presence known, but simultaneously part of her was horrified with the thought of her joining his hell. Togepi was not chirping for once; something about this creature seemed familiar to it, and memories of splattering over the stones flooded its head but it knew it couldn't be possible, the pain riddling its tiny body suggested that they were real all the same. It was too frightened to let out so much as a whimper.

Brock was first to break free of the hypnotising gaze James' body had on all of them, and shook his head to escape the spell, his noticeably greyed skin losing a dash of its lighter pigment as he did so. Without returning his focus to his former adversary, he snatched the back of Ash's collar and pulled him back, ignoring the urine splashing back on his leg. Had he succumbed a little more to fear, he most likely would have done the same as his younger companion, whether he'd been wounded by the monster or not. The fast action was enough to make the boy scoop up his unconscious pokémon and race out of the clearing. Brock had to support Misty all the way as she lacked such a degree of control over her system, and she retched multiple times as they hurtled out of there. Although he was not religious in the slightest, he offered prayers to any gods that chose to listen to save James, or at least show him mercy.

Mihrasta quickly regained control over Jessie once the distraction was gone, but allowed her some actions independent of its wishes. She walked over to her partner, and twisted his chin upwards to look into her eyes. She read intolerable agony, but what stunted control of her momentarily was her shock at seeing his pain. Not physically, but he looked emotionally ruined by the ordeal. His breath came in ragged gasps and had none spare to try to reason with her; he knew for certain that was beyond possible at this stage. But he did detect a certain shade of blankness in her normally glossy eyes, and it gave him the strength to utter what may well be his last few words. If the effort didn't kill him, the reactions caused by it probably would.

"Forgive me"

As if reading his mind, Meowth sprang into action, piecing together the conclusion James must have come to already. Tears welled in the pokémon's eyes as Meowth realised that was probably the last thing he'd hear him speak, but carried on regardless. If it all went to plan, he wouldn't hear anything from him again.

He wailed loudly, letting the heavy drops of tears fall from his eyes to the forest floor, trying to hear that rather than his claws slicing deeply into his close friend's skin, ripping flesh and muscle as though his claws instead glided through water. Ignoring the following screams took more than slight willpower, but his energy was spent and there was nothing he could do but crumple into a miserable heap and let his raw emotions drain out of his weakened system. The only good that came of it was that it worked.


	13. The Birth Of Misery

Jessie collapsed, giggling, against James after they were finally finished pleasing each other. He held her close against him, running his hands along her back and he bit her neck gently in between doses of soft kisses, them both having just discovered she liked it a lot. He jolted back suddenly and apologised for breaking her skin, which she hadn't even realised as she was so caught up in the moment. The quick movement made her head forget her endorphins a lot and remember how full of alcohol her bladder was a whole lot more, so she grabbed some toilet roll and raced into the depths of the forest before she embarrassed herself by wetting herself—and him.

She stumbled repeatedly while she tried to walk in a straight line, cursing herself for being so drunk and worse, for giggling at everything. She stubbed her toe heavily and fell forwards gracelessly; landing painfully and she felt the open skin James mentioned as it grazed off a stone she dislodged. Giggling again, she decided there was as good a place as any and relieved her bladder, failing to notice the slight black fog coming from beneath the stone and gliding menacingly towards and entering the cut on her neck. Shivering, she stood to go back to her lover—and hopefully more—and noticed she could see her breath crystallising in the air, she must have still been warm from her alcohol-influenced antics when she entered the forest or so she assumed. She wasn't aware it was the foreign entity making her and the world colder, now she'd broken the seal to its prison. Now all it needed was to get the rest of its 'body' to rejoin it from the other location and it could resume the reign of terror and fear it had once launched before its capture all those centuries ago.

As Jessie neared him, James gathered her into a tight embrace and kissed her passionately, moment being slightly ruined by her staggering again and them both ending up in a heap on the ground. The only thing she really noticed was her giggling was less frequent showing she was sobering up a bit, deciding to make the most of it while it lasted she asked to move under his covers to warm her up a bit, really feeling the sting of the air now but he hadn't noticed it at all. Then again, he didn't have the creator and manipulator of dark emotions running in his veins either.

An hour later, she nestled in against his still-sweating body; hers had cooled down a lot faster this time so she was glad of his heat, knowing she was the reason for it. She felt more at peace than she ever had before, and she was glad he'd got her through the hardest parts of her life by being there, or even just by listening to her whenever she felt she needed to open up to someone before she was swallowed whole by her anxiety. She looked up into his eyes as he calmly stroked her hair, and whispered softly to him.

"I'm glad I'm sober now, I was afraid I'd wake up and it was all just a dream. I've wanted to be in your arms for so long now, properly, not just like we've been touchy feely…I feel truly safe for the first time in my life"

"I've been sober for a long time now; you had that effect on me with your teasing during the game. I would have been happy with just kissing you, but I'm glad you let me get that close to you. I never thought you'd be my first, I thought you never felt this way about me at all. I've loved you for what feels like all my life."

"You just did. Gods I am such an easy lay"

"That's not what I meant. And don't be like that, please. I thought you wanted it, I'm really sorry if you didn't but I got caught up in my dreams I guess, I love you"

"I did. I don't want to believe you though. I've been hurt being told that before, everyone who says it goes away. I don't want you to leave."

"I won't, I never want to see you go. No one will love you the way I do."

"Promise me you'll tell me tomorrow morning, when I know you're completely sober even if you have the worst hangover ever. I want to make sure I'm sober enough to believe it."

"I promise you."

As he kissed her, she felt a surge of emotions hitting her hard. She didn't want another man to abuse her. She didn't want to believe him, but she didn't want him to lie either. She turned onto her other side, blaming a stiff hip, when really she just didn't want him to see the tears inexplicably in her eyes. He held her body against him with just the right amount of pressure so she felt close to him but didn't feel forced there either. She closed her eyes tightly as she held his forearms embracing her, wondering why she wanted to cry her eyes out; it wasn't like her to get this emotional, so she blamed the drink and changed circumstances. But he was still not allowed to notice this weakness, she vowed. She still felt cold in spite of his heat and the covers (he insisted on using hers too for extra heat even though he personally was sweltering). She fell asleep eventually, feeling comfort in his arms, wondering if he really meant what he said.

Once she fell asleep, the part of Mihrasta that was free set to work. It had been all too easy to inundate her thoughts when she was still elated, and gleefully noticed the misery that had started to appear when she subconsciously registered its presence. It could not make its mother feel so miserable though, as she was ultimately responsible for its freedom, so it fed on her weak points to make her angry instead. Mihrasta preferred misery and fear but a sacrifice should be made for her at least. The thoughts still spinning in Jessie's head in her slumber were perfect for manipulating, if it had a mouth it would have grinned sadistically. If this all went to plan, soon it would have its body and full power back.

Jessie's dreams were horrible. She wanted to wake up and have James admit they weren't true, but she could remember him saying stuff in such detail she was afraid to. Mihrasta's handiwork had just chopped and changed truth with fabrication, and she didn't realise this as she naturally thought it was all true.

"_I've been sober for a long while now, since you had that effect on me in the game. Good how you get drunk so easy. I knew you were an easy lay"_

He couldn't he? Did he just deliberately get me drunk for sex? 

"_I thought you wanted it, got caught up in my dreams."_

He used me. He hurt me physically .

"_I want to see you leave. No one will love you"_

Oh gods, he raped me. He did. It's all I am for him. I hate him for this. I HATE HIM I HATE HIM I HATE HIM! 

Mihrasta grew stronger by each outburst. The more Jessie had the drawn-out nightmare, the more convinced she was, allowed Mihrasta to take full control of her thoughts and emotions permanently, capable of making her believe its lies. Every time she felt the hate within her, James' vertebrae became victim to a great pain. It made the weather in the whole area into an icy blizzard, leaving the one clear route for any traveller to take in a twenty mile radius to cross the path above the other seal. But to break out of that cell, it would need a pokémon as a temporary host. If all else failed it could make its mother drop one of hers into the crevice it would create, but her being hurt that way wouldn't please it. Not when it could use her to hurt others in far more extreme manners. It was just incredibly pleased that the snow made its hostess' thoughts even darker and more depressed, though irritatingly it kept losing control now and again and she felt guilt about what she did, not really believing the lies anymore. But no matter, Mihrasta thought, there were enough dark memories left in the woman to seize control when it was released, should it need to.

Now that it was reunited with its body within Jessie, it no longer had any useful reason to stay inside her; it had drained almost every bit of energy from her, knowing that to take it all would prove fatal for both parties. It deliberately chose not to consume the hate that remained, needing it as a backup more than a tasty snack. To break free of its new prison, it needed to exit through an open wound; the cut it had entered on her neck had sealed up and healed and it could only ever enter and leave something by that method. Its mother was presently sobbing on the bed, staring at the page where it had entered her—left blank for some reason when the days after were scribbled in—and it realised it held enough strength to temporarily control the male. To add to the mayhem, however, it chose to let him be conscious for it all, unlike how it had saved the egg-type from the horror. Then again, Togepi had provided a service, whereas this male hadn't, at least not until this moment. If it could have grinned at the prospect of the new misery it would create, it would not have been a pretty one. As he cut and bit her, Mihrasta was ecstatic, knowing how long it would take for the wound to heal, thus eliminating the worry of cutting its mother again. It gushed out in her blood with a flash of crimson as it teleported to the depth of the forest, lying in wait. It was relishing the chance to destroy the male; there were too few untarnished memories in his thoughts that would taste so incredibly sweet as it devoured him. If for no other reason, he could possibly have more mental control over its mother than it did…


	14. Mortal Enemy

Meowth tried to ignore the red his creamy paws turned as the fur absorbed his friend's blood after he sheathed his claws. It seemed to be the only thing he could focus on with the tear-filled eyes blurring everything except that out of recognition. His ears could not drown out the shrieking and hoarse breathing echoing around him no matter how hard he tried. He could not stop his body racking with sobs, or his claws feeling jagged cells of skin along their enamel coating. He could not block the memory of his action flooding his head mercilessly, which he wanted most of all.

James fell heavily to the ground as the tree no longer felt obliged to stay embedded in his skin, tearing tendons as gravity took control and the branches splintered into his wounds. His breath was as ragged as his senses. He rubbed his eyes to aid focus on something other than the agony his body presently underwent, and trembled more when he felt the slick coating with which his fingers were now laced from the blood on his face. Blood usually didn't bother him; he ignored his own quite easily for the most part of the events. It had sickened him to see it splatter the second Meowth's claws had shredded the skin, and with what little coherent thoughts he could muster he moaned out Jessie's name.

Part of him still wanted to be angry and upset with her, to forget he still felt feelings for her as strong as they were. He didn't know why things had turned out the way they did; one minute Jessie had been trying to save his life, the next she was suddenly trying to end it. He was not naïve; he knew there was only so much blame the creature could be allocated. There had to have been some of that feeling deep within her for it to feed off on, as a psychic attack could not have been that powerful. Or maybe it could have, he didn't know what he was fighting against, or where the thing had come from. He didn't know why he cared for Jessie more than himself as he faced death.

There was too little he understood of what had happened lately for him to know the cause for her to hate him so much, but that was no excuse to enjoy watching his best friend shrieking as she clutched at her heart, trying to hold the precious blood inside as much as possible. He hated seeing her in agony, but was partially relieved the creature too was suffering from losing its grip over its mother and the remnants of its soul that was within her. Now it was completely dependent on the form it was in now, and all the strength it had accumulated from the woman had vanished with that attack.

James pulled his partner close to him, and without warning her, he ripped her t-shirt along the back and peeled it off her. She was too frightened to say anything, and the false memories momentarily flooded back of her belief he raped her, but now the truth floated beside it and she knew it was all the work of the creature that had somehow controlled her to that extent. Her shrieking subsided and she just whimpered, wondering what consequences her controlled actions would cause. He struggled to provide enough force to do as he wished properly, but he pressed the cloth as hard as he could on the wounds to try and stem the bleeding. Ignoring the damage he'd personally caused to her lip took just more willpower than he had within him, distracting him so the pressure fluctuated on her chest. She lurched forwards and coughed out a thick clot of steaming blood as he pressed too hard, and as she did so, James formulated a plan that would either save them, or bring about all of their deaths for certain. He had a horrible feeling imbued deep within him it was more likely to be the latter, and prayed that although their situation was gravely different to how it normally was, this one continuity would not fail him now. He felt guilt swoop alongside the bile rising in his throat as he caught a deep breath and congregated the last of his strength for what would probably be his final words…

A/N This chapter is dedicated to those of you who felt obliged to read thus far and NOT comment. The whole "if you have nothing nice to say don't say it" thing is appreciated, I mean I can then deduce from your actions that your lives are so meaningful you read stuff you hate right to the end of what's posted all day, so I pity you (well, if I could be bothered wasting MY time on that I would, so hard luck). Or you're just lazy and can't string a sentence together to write down. Hehehe…

PS Arigato Shari-sama!


	15. The Battle Of The Badges

"My, Gary, what shiny badges you have"

Ignoring the intense moistness of his jeans, the severe shock in his system and anything that could be regarded as common sense, Ash stopped dead in his tracks and looked around where he stood. His pet Pikachu was slowly allowing consciousness to take control of its system, not really recalling anything from the last two hours as it puzzled over its present situation. Misty still sobbed and shook violently, requiring Brock's help to support her body weight as they stared back at their friend. She couldn't place her finger on it but there was something about his manner that made fear return in full force although there was no menace in his stance. Then, with even more horror striking her panic-ridden pre-pubescent flat chest, she recognised that look. It was the same look he took on when they made up the competition less than an hour ago. She burst into fresh tears as he turned around stomping off the way he came muttering "Grrrr that Gary!" Brock wished the other boy's geographical bearings were that accurate when he wasn't riled up, and wondered why he'd suddenly chosen to remember what had sent them off walking in the dead of night now of all times. Begrudgingly, they followed their companion back to the nightmare scenario, screaming at him to turn around while they still could leave alive. In response, all they got were mutterings of how his badges were the shiniest around, so shiny in fact that a group of Murkrow had once swiped them and that stupid Gary couldn't claim the same. He also then mentally decided he would win a badge just for possessing the shiniest collection of said items, indicating he was a master in every aspect. Grrrr that Gary! Neither Brock nor Misty understood how in a situation like theirs, he could resume his haughty chuckling and wide-stance walk.

James' words aggravated Mihrasta for no reason other than the male daring to utter a word in its presence, as what he said made little sense. If Jessie had the ability to release something other than an agonised groan she would have asked him what he was thinking, so instead reckoned he'd lost his grip on sanity with the trauma he'd suffered. Her skin was clammy from the cold sweat resulting from her chest injury, a panic attack rising within as she worried about the blood gushing into her t-shirt, wondering if she had the strength to take over applying pressure to her heart when her former partner's ran out. Since he spoke, she noticed a distinct lack of force in his hands and she panicked more, knowing that he was extremely close to death. A faint moan was all she could muster when she attempted to say his name, frustration causing her tears to splash against his knuckles.

When their glances met, her whole world crumbled away from beneath her feet upon seeing the lack of expression in his eyes; she could usually read his thoughts and emotions like a book through them. He found it immensely difficult to focus on her even though there was less than a foot of space between their faces, as if a film was rapidly coating his sclerotic layers. He knew all too well how quickly life faded from his significantly weakened body and this scared him greatly, but strangely it was not the notion of drawing his last breath. He was frightened of dying and Jessie being unable to maintain sufficient pressure to stem the wound until she received the required proper medical assistance. He was terrified she'd forget the many happy times they shared together and choose to recall only this horrific time in their lives when she thought of him, if she did at all. What upset him the most, however, was knowing that if he used his final sources of energy to kiss her like he so badly wanted to do, he knew she'd pull away before his lips even touched hers. He opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was, they became lost in the chaos that suddenly ensued around them.

Mihrasta's energy was as fully recuperated as its situation would allow; it had never once assumed the backup in its mother's body would be under threat before it could successfully reunite itself when all of its output was at a maximum. Its strength was still formidable and its enemies were weakened to a satisfactory extent. The stunning blow its head received inadvertently from Jessie's sudden regain of mental power had subsided enough for it to launch another attack. Snarling furiously, it pounced towards the male's exposed, bloody back mere feet away from where it had been with claws unsheathed, determined to make him pay for its current situation. What really irked Mihrasta, however, was knowing this time it would not toy with its prey before allowing it death; too many disasters had occurred in the last hour to permit the chance of more appearing.

Mihrasta's attack did not connect. Mere moments before its claws could have shredded the tender flesh of the human, an unseen assault countered it and delivered a blow of admirable force to its upper cheekbone. Twisting its body as it landed added another sharp stab of pain to its spinal column, but with the volumes of adrenaline pulsing through Mihrasta's body it went unnoticed. Releasing a feral growl, it faced off against an equally fatigued-looking Meowth, who in turn hissed and spat back, wagging his fluffed-out tail venomously. Any trace of how he'd been unable to concentrate on anything other than how he'd attacked his partner was clearly absent, intently focused instead on destroying the beast before him. He did not notice the discomfort created by his ears being flat to his skull or the fact that he was on all fours, something quite unnatural to him since he'd taught himself to walk all those years ago. Not giving Mihrasta sufficient time to regain its balance from the last attack, Meowth lunged forwards venomously, knowing that he had to take any opening he was given to have a hope of winning this bloody onslaught.

Upon seeing the creature lurching towards her partner, Jessie shrieked and involuntarily jolted backwards, causing James to fall with her as his weight was resting on her. The force of his graceless landing pressed her harder onto a root (incidentally part of the same tree she had unwittingly sent through his body) and the dull throb in her lower back acted as a deterrent from the agony in her chest. He struggled to raise his body off hers, knowing it would be far from comfortable for her in their present status, and it was seeing this, after all that had happened that night, she realised he would never be capable of hurting her wittingly in any sense.

Ignoring their extreme injuries and multiple pools of their blood mingling together, she moved as easily as she could into a more upright position and covered his blood-covered lips with her own. She panicked when he did not respond and croaked his name in a pitiful decibel, relieved at his eyes moving to show a reaction. A hint of emotion was at last visible in his glazed eyes, one she felt shame for forgetting when she recognised it; he'd shown it when they'd spent the night together. The somewhat fogged memory surfaced in a ray of horror as she remembered him definitely saying '_No one will love you the way I do'_. Tears of a new variety flowed down her drenched cheeks, knowing that if he died now as she feared he would, he would never know about her memory being altered and their hell was completely over nothing. She kissed him again, fretting mentally about how cold his body was becoming without a second thought about to what degree hers was following suit, praying he'd show some sign of knowing she was sincere.

Part of her wondered why she could act so brazenly when their lives were in peril. She wanted his shallow breathing to be as it had been when they'd given in to lust and due to nothing more serious. She wanted his hands touching her from his desire, not because he lacked the required strength to move them himself. She wanted him to be sky-clad over her by his own choice and not covered in serious wounds by her doing, whether she was in control at the time it happened or not. More than anything else, she wanted that promise he made of never leaving her to come true, now that her memories were complete she wanted to hear them again to make sure it hadn't been a dream created by her suppressed subconscious. As if to acknowledge her mental wishes, he finally responded the way she wanted, and faintly moved her fingertips along where they rested on her abdomen, recalling the extent to which she'd admitted liking it. At the exact moment of this action, however, something completely unexpected happened which created a more bizarre chain of events.

The adrenaline raised in Meowth's body from the ongoing battle with the demonic pokémon caused his level to rise and he did something he would never have dreamed possible in what remained of his nine lives. Coins rained down from the heavens relentlessly as the weary cat-type had finally mastered Pay Day, pounding the hide of the demon mercilessly. Blood splashed as the metal tore repeatedly into the weakened creature and its skin hissed as the metal touched it, which surprisingly pleased Meowth. He did not dare move from his stance until he was positive there was no risk of an attack from behind, painfully aware how near to death his comrades were. Part of him was sickened by their chosen time to reconcile their differences, particularly when he still remembered seeing Jessie's fresh wounds James had personally delivered.

He was shaken out of his scathing notions by hearing a new pitiful wail behind him. Risking the time to glance backwards furtively, he did a double take at seeing Ash with tears on his cheek. The tears he cried were not from anguish, horror or anything to be expected; he simply wailed that his badges weren't sullied by blood and thus shinier than anything that grrr that Gary could ever acquire. In a huff, the pre-adolescent hurled an empty pokéball at Mihrasta, ranting like a lunatic of how it would not have the chance to bleed on his badges. With a final inhuman high-pitched shriek, the creature lost its grasp on its body as the confining metal walls of the ball pressed down on its body. The pokéball dissolved as the demon spirit was slaughtered within, leaving a hole in the ground where the steaming remains of the orb remained. Meowth did not dare blink even once as the scene unfolded before him; he believed it too easy an end to their ordeal. Finally, when the metal was stone cold again he padded across to his partners, to see if there was anything he could do to help.

He tried valiantly to ignore Ash's self-assured laughter and declarations that he was going to seek out a badge for having shiny badges before that Gary ever could; were it not for the extreme gravity of the situation, he would probably have handed the newly-conscious Pikachu a noose to end the shame he undoubtedly felt, and he subconsciously pitied the rat-type for having to perform gestures of approval even though he could taste its cringing at doing it from there. Pikachu wished Ash had never saved its life; the gratitude it had made itself feel toward its owner was the key to his own undoing. In exchange for being allowed to live outside of its pokéball, it had stupidly agreed to take victory stance lessons from Ash. Every day it had prayed Team Rocket would catch it and throw it in the experiment chambers; no pain could be worse than what he already endured. It wanted to check its adversaries' conditions but knew that it was unlikely to be an option while the laughter and pose remained. Its paw was really starting to hurt now from holding up the victory sign.

Misty violently vomited as she stumbled into the clearing with Brock upon seeing all the fresh blood in the area. He would probably have followed suit if his body hadn't used up all of his energy banks creating scenes of perverse enjoyment in his snatched hours of sleep earlier. He rubbed her back to try and soothe her, hoping it would ease the nausea in some way similar to how he used to make one of his countless younger siblings feel better. Then again, they'd suffered from colic at worst, not from witnessing a scene from a horror film. She hated thinking about how she felt about James; somehow in this carnage she found the time to hate Jessie for not being stuck in the body of a scrawny straw haired boy as she noticed their position. She pulled Brock closer to her to try and remain standing with his support, and mentally wondered if her foes were alive; they did not seem to be moving. Swallowing a few times to ease her parched throat, she attempted to pose the question to her pale-faced friend.

"Do you think they're…?"

Abruptly, Ash stopped his inane laughter at this sound; he did not like his triumphant moments ruined by idle chat. Pikachu flopped to the ground, mewing piteously as it grasped its victory arm, willing circulation to flow through its veins once more.


	16. When Love And Death Embrace

Mihrasta's demise ended the blizzard, the heavens choosing to release hard, fast rain with the icy touch intact instead. The ground still hissed menacingly where the pokéball had melted, a few coins still dropping with a lacklustre _clink_ as they hit the roots of the greatly skewed trees, blood still dripping from the boughs. For the eldest two in the clearing, this went by completely unnoticed, their bodies too weary and engrossed in each other to notice the dull splashes as the drops of water hit off their agonised skin. Their hearts beat a slow, rhythm, the teenagers completely synchronised in all aspects of their lives, and as one, the beating ceased.

Meowth was the first to perceive this; the second he saw their immobile forms he raced over, mewing fretfully like he was a mere kitten again, nuzzling them in a bid for his best friends to wake up. They'd faced death innumerable times together before and come away comparatively unscathed, so why, why did this have to happen now? And why did it have to be both of them, to leave him alone? He hollowly thought about how now he'd mastered Pay Day they'd never have had to face starvation again, and how his friends could never congratulate him for learning it at his age.

Tears mingled with the rain coursing its way down Misty's face, knowing exactly what the cat-type's actions meant. No matter their differences, Team Rocket had always been there, a reminder that their lives weren't as bad as they could be. It broke up their monotonous journeys that seemed to only consist of getting Ash to a gym, get lost in a forest, help some stranger and then get to another gym. Occasionally, one of them acquired a new pokémon, but none of these breaks made up for the miles of trudging they went to accomplish them. Without daring to breathe a word of it to Ash, she'd run a betting pool with Brock and some of the pokémon based on who'd guess correctly which master plan Team Rocket would use that time. She always bet cross-dressing with a large but namely useless contraption, namely because she had a distinct penchant for such plans. She'd seen him as her ideal role model as well, as he offered her the suggestion that just because you can have no curves to speak of, you _can_ wear that sexy outfit. Although she hadn't said it to anyone, the beach contest saga had made her look past his inflatable breasts and to the undoubted sex god within. Then it hit her; she was never going to see her beloved in a leather mini skirt and his oh so beautiful makeup again.

Brock's support suddenly wasn't enough to support her and she fell gracelessly to her knees, ignorant of the inches of mulch she sank in. Togepi was not pleased with this and let out a shrill "Priiiiii!" and waved its stubby little arms around. The mud might not have been much to a human, but it covered half the egg-type's body. Its cries also went unheard, so it opted instead to sniffle wretchedly and tap its paws together, wondering how to punish those who did not offer it their undiluted attention. Ash was thinking along similar lines himself. Rage bubbled uncontrollably in the young trainer until he hit his breaking point.

"Why is nobody telling me how great I am for officially having the shiniest badges around? Worship me, now!!!"

Admittedly, Ash was not entirely satisfied with his outburst. He felt it lacked a certain taste to their situation, and felt resuming his victory stance and laughter would be much more sophisticated. He squirmed about on the spot but it just didn't feel right; he couldn't assume a pose without someone congratulating him first. If Misty had never opened her mouth asking useless questions regarding…hey that was it! It was all that blasted Team Rocket's fault. He smiled a self-righteous grin; he had just inspired his next move. And it would ensure the attention was all his.

"PIKACHU, THUNDERSHOCK THEM NOW BEFORE THEY TRY TO STEAL YOU!"

Even Togepi broke out of its trance to gape at Ash, as this new level of stupidity became apparent to them all. Brock almost opened his eyes as he turned to stare at the young trainer, wondering if his mother had ever really explained the concept of death to him. He doubted it as he thought about it; this was a woman who had an unhealthy obsession with wondering if her son was wearing clean "you-know-whats" rather than if he faced any dangerous situations when he was away from home. With a new sense of fear, he wondered if, through a severe bout of post-natal depression, she had killed Ash's father for failing to change them at least six times a day. In retrospect, he was lucky to leave that residence while he still could. She had, after all, asked both him and "Mimey" if they'd put the wash load in with varying frequency throughout the day; he'd just put it down to her being a forgetful hippie, but now he knew otherwise.

Brock wished he'd been fortunate enough to tag along with Gary; when he'd thought it before it had been the flashy sports car filled with cheerleaders in skimpy tight outfits that influenced his desires, but now he just wanted to be associated with someone with an IQ higher than a dead blade of grass. Even his "replacement" whose name he could not recall—someone who'd taken the duty of having perverted fantasies to the wrong levels as all he'd obsessed with were pencils and Professor Oak—might be someone better to hang around with, as at least nobody knew who he was, and Brock could start a name for himself again, once the stigma of being near Ash had vanished. He prayed those pencils would stay far, far away from him whilst he slept.

Clutching its pained arm despairingly, Pikachu wearily stepped forward and did as its trainer commanded. It knew if it failed to obey it would result in more posing and laughing lessons, so no matter how immoral a situation was he complied to make its life easier. Meowth's shrieks from electricity blasting through his body could not deter attention away from the humans jerking around like some sort of voodoo marionettes, so Pikachu used as much force as it was capable to get it over as soon as it possibly could. Now that he'd blasted his foes off, Ash happily resumed his haughty chuckling for saving the day, whilst his comrades looked on at him in newfound horror and disgust. Even Togepi feared for its life at witnessing this.

Crashing through the roof of a tall building mercilessly, Meowth shook off the pain and slunk out from under his friend's bodies, wondering if the shock of the events had made their adversary even stupider than usual. He heard footsteps all around him but failed to look to see where he was; none of that mattered to him anymore. He mewed as he bumped against their faces lovingly in his anguish, then stopped as he noticed faint breath coming from both of them; the electric attack had been sufficient to jolt-start their hearts it would seem. He paused in utmost disbelief as he looked around his location; although he firmly believed Ash was sub-intelligent, he was also partially wondering if the kid had some magical power embedded within or if this was just another part of the twerp's uncanny good luck. Shoved aside from his partners, doctors transported the near-dead humans to the operating theatres, calling details of their statuses to nurses running alongside, scribbling down notes onto their respective clipboards. Meowth was beyond bewildered at the likelihood of them crashing into a hospital reception.

Jessie came around a long time before James did, leaving her with in internal anguish as all her memories restored themselves fully throughout her state of unconsciousness. In floods of tears was how she spent the majority of her time awake, all the while she was fervently wishing she could have somehow realised her recollections were tainted sooner. Meowth, along with their other pokémon were currently undergoing treatment in the local pokémon centre, which acted as some relief to her. Aside from the bed to her left where her still unconscious partner resided, the room was relatively empty. The window to her right let precious little sunlight through it, making the room feel even more depressing than it was. Looking at him was a further ordeal, knowing she had caused his injuries even if it were not she who was in full control at the time. She vaguely remembered their final moments before their hearts stopped, and prayed he'd wake up in that mind frame rather than hating her like she fully deserved. The doctors had, understandably, hooked him up to more machines than they had with her, and it sickened her knowing it was only those that kept his condition from deteriorating.

What seemed like years later, but in reality were only a few hours, he reluctantly broke out of his coma. Nurses sprang to his bedside almost immediately, wrapping the curtain around the rail to conceal him from anybody else's view. Jessie sighed; why they assumed what they said behind the curtain was automatically soundproof just because you couldn't see the other patient was beyond her. She tuned out their conversation where they notified him of the details of his condition, not really wanting to know the full extent of her actions unless James felt particularly obliged to tell her himself. The old familiar dull ache returned in her heart, the one where she was afraid he'd reject her, as she knew that if he did now, it was unlikely they'd stay together for very long with regards everything that had happened. As the medical staff drew the curtain back once more and exited with a collection of test tubes filled with blood, Jessie took a deep breath and, wincing heavily, sat up so she could see him properly. Although that particular movement would usually cost minimal effort, it took all her spare energy and left her gasping for relief from the pain. She checked the leeway on the various equipment injected into her arm, and decided to strain herself that much further to sit on the chair equidistant from their beds.

He looked at her without any expression at all visible, which she grudgingly admitted was natural from both only just returning to consciousness and the amount of drugs no doubt running through his veins. Feeling over-exposed in just the hospital gown, she asked him how he felt to start a conversation going. The silence dripping in that moment made her feel beyond discomfited until he spoke four simple words that ingrained panic and anguish to her heart.

"Do I know you?"

Not one of her worries about his attitude when he awoke matched up with this harsh dilemma. She stuttered a few incoherent words out as she tried to think of something to say so he'd remember her, until she noticed he was flashing a grin at her. Relief took over her emotions until an angry outburst quickly replaced it. Were it not for their mutual lack of body strength she would have readily smacked him for doing that.

"Don't ever do that to me again you jerk!"

"Come on it was better than the last time I tried amnesia, this time I didn't accidentally make it so I died when I was eight after all!"

Grudgingly, she mentally admitted he had a point there, but she remained partially angry as the shock still hadn't worn off. As she looked at him, she found it incredibly difficult not to focus on all the bandages and wounds covering the skin that was visible to her. At his request, she passed him the chart board affixed to the end of his bed, and with difficulty, he adjusted himself into a somewhat sitting position. He glowered as he read the name of the consulting doctor at the top, and his mood didn't improve in the slightest when he saw all the notes attached along it. He thrust it back into her hands with more force than was necessary and she replaced it, afraid to ask what he'd seen. She didn't even know he could understand the medical jargon on it; she personally wouldn't stand a chance.

She looked at his dark gaze, not focused on her face, but on her stomach, and didn't understand why he spat out that she'd damn well better be pregnant. She didn't know how to react to this; his attitude was far from one bearing any trace of a paternal instinct. A glance behind his head to read his patients notes made her heart sink; part of the reason for his mood was because his consulting doctor was none other than Dr Proctor, and she remembered how sour the atmosphere had been when they'd mutually flirted in front of him that time. Minutes passed with that uncomfortable silence growing once more, until he stretched forward and with a degree of difficulty clasped her hand gently, his expression much softer now. He broke the quietness with a simple sentence, but one she didn't know if she wanted to hear.

"Where do we go from here?"

The awkward atmosphere returned. And it would not disappear.

Months after the incident in the forest, Ash was striding haughtily, chuckling to himself at winning yet another badge; however, nothing would ever come close to knowing he had the shiniest badges. Pikachu despised squeaking happily more than anything else; Ash won that badge six days ago now and its voice was in danger of vanishing permanently. Brock was a lot poorer than usual, refusing to accept any coins when he paid for anything, still unable to cleanse his retinas of that scene with Pay Day that remained solidly burnt into them. Misty wanted Team Rocket back now more than anything for a number of reasons. Without their constant disruptions, more time than ever was spent walking to Gyms and now her thighs resembled tree trunks and as a result any curves she could gain would blend into the mass that was her blocky limbs. Say nothing about her fantasies regarding James still existed and now he was dead it was a bit disturbing to say the least. She was so wrapped up in smouldering thoughts of what to do with a dead man she didn't notice Togepi ate less these days, and it stuffed tools and potential parts for weapons in the gap between its body and the shell instead. It was deeply afraid it was going to smuggle one thing too many and the egg would splinter away altogether; it was much easier having Misty carry it and its hoard than waddling with it itself after all. Foolish flat-chested minion.

The power-marching ceased abruptly, owing to a large cloud of smoke suddenly engulfing the width of the road. Over their coughing, the tinny but unmistakable sound of Team Rocket's theme was audible, stabbing shock into all their hearts. Ash gasped for air hysterically as he heard Jessie's voice starting their motto; he'd suffered enough lectures and silent treatments from his friends after blasting off her corpse and had thought paid his penance sufficiently. It hadn't exactly been enjoyable having to praise himself aloud so he could start his laughing and poses; at one stage he almost discovered shame but thankfully had lacked the brainpower to stay dwelling on the concept, and thus remained ignorant in its ways. As Jessie declared her name and became completely visible against the smoke, he felt the contents of his bladder slide gracelessly down his legs, frantically wondering what he should do to escape his undead enemies. As James made his ocular debut, Ash decided enough was enough and it was time to fight back. Twisting the cap back on his head with stony determination etched on the soiled trainer's face, Ash took up his famous "I'll get you, Team Rocket!" stance and held his position, even if it meant he felt the moisture seep into his skin more.

"PIKACHU, THUNDER…"

He trailed off his attack as it was probably the first time in his life that he actually remembered something: _electrical attacks did little more than tickle ghost-type pokémon_. He forgot naturally, that his opponents were neither pokémon nor in all likelihoods dead. He could have sworn it had not been that long since he'd emptied his bladder, whereas his jeans said otherwise as the sopping mess amplified. As James reached into his pocket, Ash turned and ran as fast as he could, knowing within his heart that for once this battle was well out of his capability range. Sadly, with watching over his shoulder as much as he did on his speedy yet moist getaway, he did not see the tree he ran into at full force, knocking him instantly unconscious as a result. Utterly bewildered, James opened his fist to show a small open box containing a silver trinket with the words "Badge awarded to the sole trainer capable of bringing people back to life" inscribed on the inside of the lid. Blinking furiously to ensure his eyes did not deceive him, he noticed the other two travellers were slumped forward on the grass, clearly having fainted at their appearance. Facing each other with wicked grins, they ignored how much the official customised badge had cost and chose to focus on the fact they were ghosts to them and how this could ultimately play to their favour. It would certainly make Jessie's last few workable months more interesting and that much safer. It also distracted James from his painful constant reminder that Jessie had lucratively castrated him when she'd pulled that stunt with the tree. Laughing evilly, he pocketed the box again, and the left the clearing without a sign they'd been there. Pikachu wailed after them, crawling to tug onto Meowth's tail, begging to let it go with them. As Team Rocket is infamous for being a corporation riddled with ruthless pokémon thieves, they carried on walking and did not take their willing companion. Having laboured over the same mission for what seemed an eternity, they felt it would all have been in vain should they get the rat in this manner. These next few months would unquestionably be fun though…

As Jessie's pregnancy wore on, James and Meowth placed her irrational bad moods to hormonal imbalances and stress at knowing this was the only time she'd ever be capable of carrying his child. However, they were unaware that the foetus had fused with the straggling dying cells Mihrasta had deposited when Jessie was its host. Now as she reached the final trimester, she was unaware that the beast consumed her child's soul hungrily to ensure its revenge would be accomplished to the maximum extent. They would pay dearly for their actions; with complete memories of the incident, it also gained immunity to metal throughout the process as a result of surviving the assault. Nothing could stop it now.

Nothing.

\\\\\\\\\AN//////////

Not the ending you were hoping for? Wanted more bloodshed? Oh sorry, I'm not telepathic and gosh darn it all you didn't review to say what you did want to read. Thank you to the lovely SenshiofRuin and UraniumMaiden (particularly for getting rid of the "0" on reviews for chapter 13) who did actually comment, I love you guys lots! As to you read and runners, please refer to my earlier comment about showing up on my radar. Anyone who wants to know where the line she was manipulated with "No-one will love you the way I do" it's from the track "Love You Like I Do" sung by His Infernal Majesty, or HIM. Think that's everything now!


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